Leading the Way

by Marsha Hubler

  It was Monday morning at Keystone Stables and time for riding lessons! By nine o’clock the hot June sun had already posted its warning for another scorcher of a day.

  Skye and Katie rested their arms over the top rail of the small riding corral. Katie was devouring a candy bar. Next to the barn, Mr. Chambers and Morgan were showing Joey and Leonard, wearing helmets, how to saddle and bridle their horses. In the corral, a young man, looking sharp in western attire including a black Stetson, led a brown horse. Sam, also wearing a helmet, sat in the saddle and held on for dear life. As the young man walked the team in a circle, Skye’s heart went with him.

  Chad, you are so sweet. Skye’s whole being smiled.

  “What’s goin’ on now?” Katie asked, finishing her candy. “If everyone’s too busy, I can just wait. I don’t need to do this today.”

  “Like Mom and Dad said earlier, Katie, today you should take your first ride,” Skye insisted. “So I guess you do need to do this today. And it will be your turn as soon as Chad’s done giving Sam his first lesson.”

  “This is so dumb,” Katie snapped, then changed her tone. “Who’s Chad?”

  “The sweetest boy this side of heaven,” Skye whispered. “He’s fifteen and in our youth group and blond and super cute!”

  “He’s your boyfriend?”

  “Nah. Mom and Dad say I’m way too young to be thinking of boyfriends. And Chad’s too busy for girls. He has a part-time job and he plays the guitar and practices preaching to the youth group at church and—”

  “Wow, you really like him, don’t you?” Katie asked. “Is there anything about him you don’t know?”

  Chad led the horse team past the two girls. “Hey, Skye, looks like we’ll see a lot of each other this summer, thanks to Mr. C. I can always use the extra money for my college fund!”

  Gulp! Skye felt her face turn red-hot as her mind went blank. Staring at Chad was the only thing she could do.

  “Skye,” Katie said, reaching to her side, “are you there?” Her hand found Skye’s arm. “Answer the man! You sure had enough to say about him just a second ago!”

  Chad burst into a hearty laugh as he led the horse team to the other side of the corral. “Skye, you’ve only been in the sun a few minutes, and you already have quite a burn. Better get some sunscreen!”

  “C’mon, Katie!” Skye grabbed her arm. “It’s time for your lesson—now!”

  “I don’t want to!” Katie sounded off.

  “Well, want to or not, now’s the time. C’mon.” Skye led Katie inside the barn where Mrs. Chambers had just finished cross-tying Boomer in the open hall. Seeing the two girls, she slipped into a nearby stall and came out carrying a hard hat and a bucket filled with grooming gear.

  Skye took the helmet from Mrs. Chambers. “Okay, Katie, time for your first lesson. Here’s your hard hat.”

  Skye gently set the helmet on Katie’s head.

  “What’s that for?” Katie felt the helmet.

  “State regulations,” Mrs. Chambers explained in no-nonsense terms. She walked next to Boomer and placed the bucket down. “There are all kinds of ways you could hurt your head. This rule is a good one.”

  “I bet I really look dumb,” Katie lamented.

  “All the students have to wear them,” Skye said. “It won’t take long to get used to. There’s a chin strap for you to snap shut.”

  “Oh, then it must look a lot like a bike helmet.” Katie snapped the chin strap in place.

  “Kinda,” Skye said.

  “For once I’m glad I can’t see,” Katie joked. “I looked weird in my helmet when I rode my bike. Do the horses have to wear them too?”

  Skye forced out a laugh. “Very funny. Although it probably wouldn’t hurt, the way some of the students act.”

  Mrs. Chambers pulled a currycomb from the bucket. “That’s right. It never pays to be rough with horses. The gentler you are with them, the gentler they’ll be with you. Okay, Katie, here’s what we’re going to do. Let Skye bring you right next to Boomer. I’ll give you a currycomb, and we’ll show you how to brush a horse.”

  A shroud of worry covered Katie’s face. “Is there a fence between us like yesterday?”

  “No, but it’s okay. He’s really gentle.”

  “I—I don’t think I want to do this.” Katie took a step back.

  “We’ll be right here with you,” Mrs. Chambers said. “Boomer’s tied, so he can’t walk away or step on you. I’ll hold him real steady while Skye shows you what to do. C’mon, try it. I think you’ll like it.”

  “This is still dumb, but all right.” Katie’s voice relaxed a little

  Skye turned to her. “Do you want my arm?”

  “No, I’ll try it myself,” Katie said.

  Side by side the girls edged forward. Mrs. Chambers handed Skye the comb and held the horse’s head steady.

  “Reach forward and feel how tall he is. He’s just right for you,” Skye said.

  Slowly Katie reached her hand forward. “Wow! He is so smooth! Just like a silk blouse my mother has. Hey, he really isn’t that big after all.” She leaned cautiously against Boomer’s withers. “Look, I can rest my head on his back. And he smells good too!”

  “The best smell in the whole universe, as far as I’m concerned,” Skye said, patting Boomer’s neck. “He feels smooth because in the summer, most horses have really short hair. They only look like fuzzy bears in the winter. Reach to your left to his neck. Then run your hands along his back, belly, and rump. See how firm he is from all the running he does? This guy’s all muscle.”

  “Well, I sure hope he doesn’t do any running with me.” Carefully, Katie slid her hands all over the horse. “Where’s the saddle? I won’t get on him without a saddle!”

  “That will come in good time,” Mrs. Chambers said. “First we want you to feel comfortable around Boomer. You need to get to know each other.”

  Skye gave Katie the comb and guided her hand up to Boomer’s head. “Here. Now I’ll teach you how to curry him. He absolutely loves it. Start up here at his neck, in back of the halter, and brush in downward strokes. Then work your way onto his back, belly, rump, and his legs.”

  “Then you can do the same on his other side,” Mrs. Chambers said. “But never walk behind a horse. Always go to the other side by going around his head.”

  “Why?” Katie asked.

  Mrs. Chambers continued, “Although Boomer never would, some horses kick for no reason at all. A horse’s kick is powerful enough to send you through a wall.”

  “Wow,” Katie said. “Are they that strong?”

  “Yeah, and that’s not something you want to find out the hard way.” Skye pulled a large brush from the bucket and placed it in Katie’s hand. “Here’s a brush to use on him too. That really makes his coat shine.”

  Mrs. Chambers tightened her grip on the horse’s halter as Katie felt her way to begin. “This is the best way to bond with a horse,” Mrs. Chambers said. “If Boomer knows that you like him, he’ll do anything you ask when you’re on his back. You’re not afraid of him now, are you?”

  “No, not really.” Katie combed the horse in deliberate, long strokes. Her giggle sounded shaky. “I’m just a little nervous, that’s all.”

  “Horses can sense when you’re nervous,” Skye said. “Just try to relax and have a good time. Remember, Boomer’s a perfect gentleman around ladies.”

  Mrs. Chambers released the horse’s halter and moved away. “I think they’ll be fine, Skye. I want to see how Tom and Chad are doing with the boys. You two go ahead and love this little guy. Butter him up! I’ll be back in a minute.”

  Standing next to Katie, Skye tried to put her at ease. “Now we’ll find out if you’re a kid who can pat your head and rub your tummy at the same time. Try brushing with one hand and combing with the other. I’ll be right here beside you. In a few weeks, after you get to know him better, we’ll show you how to clean his front hooves.”

  “Clean his hooves?” Katie asked. �
��Why would I want to do that—and how?”

  “Well,” Skye said, “all four hooves need to be cleaned on the bottom every day. If dirt and manure stay wedged in parts of the hoof called the frog, the horse can get an infection called thrush and go lame. I wouldn’t want you to mess with his back feet, but it’s easy to do his front ones. Boomer’s so well trained, all you have to do is touch his knee, and he lifts his hoof. I’m sure you can learn to clean his hooves, and I’ll be here to help you every step of the way.”

  “Wow. What do you use to clean them? And how do you do it?”

  “A metal pick. You have to bend the leg up and pry out all that caked dirt.”

  Deep in thought, Katie stopped grooming and laid both arms across Boomer’s back. “I had no idea horses needed all this TLC.”

  “Well, they do,” Skye said, “and they need lots of space too, not only to keep them, but to ride them.”

  “Speaking of riding, where—and when—will I have to ride him?”

  “Out in the small paddock where Chad and Sam are now. I think Mom wants you to try it today. What do you think?”

  As if the horse understood what Skye had said, he turned his head toward Katie, nodded, and let out a hearty neigh.

  Startled, Katie jumped back. Skye reached out to steady the girl.

  “Wow! That was loud!” Katie said in a nervous voice. “I—I don’t think I’m ready for this, Skye.”

  “Katie, get with it!” Skye ordered. “Get ready to ride, or get ready to be grounded.”

  In about a half hour, Skye and Katie had finished grooming Boomer. Skye had tacked the horse—and had convinced Katie it was in her best interest to get on the horse. As the girls walked Boomer out of the barn, they passed Chad and his team on their way in.

  “You did a great job for your first lesson,” Chad said to Sam, still in the saddle.

  “I like it,” Sam replied. “Can I do it some more?”

  “I’m afraid not,” Chad said. “We have to give the corral to the girls for a while.” Beautiful brown eyes peeking from under his Stetson, Chad winked and his dimples radiated a cordial smile. “It’s all yours, ladies!”

  “Thanks, Chad.” Skye smiled back as she led Boomer on her right and Katie on her left. “Hey, Chad, I almost forgot. Mom said she has lemonade and cookies in the kitchen.”

  “Now you’re talking.” Chad’s voice trailed away into the barn’s interior.

  “Leave some for me! That is, if I come out of this alive!” Katie yelled back.

  Skye walked her team from the coolness of the barn into the growing heat of the humid day. In the corral, they met Mrs. Chambers.

  “We think you’re ready to try this, Katie. What do you think?” Mrs. Chambers spoke confidently. “We’ll take it real slow. Skye will be leading Boomer every step of the way.”

  “All we’re gonna do is walk around the perimeter of the corral until you get the feel of the saddle,” Skye said. “Give me your hand, Katie.”

  Skye placed a sugar cube in the girl’s open hand.

  “What’s that?” Katie asked.

  Mrs. Chambers checked the bit in Boomer’s mouth. “It’s a sugar cube, Katie. Horses will practically sit up and beg to get sugar cubes. That’s their candy!”

  Skye turned Katie toward the left side of the horse. “Now, just stand here a sec and watch what happens. Horses can smell sugar a mile away.”

  Katie stood perfectly still.

  “Hold the sugar toward Boomer’s head,” Skye said. “Open your hand wide with the sugar in your flat palm.”

  Katie held her hand out.

  Boomer turned his head back and gently nibbled the cube from Katie’s hand, leaving a deposit of wet foam on her hand. His teeth made loud crunching sounds. Katie giggled.

  “He took it!” Katie wiped her hand on her jeans. “He took it—and that tickled.”

  Skye and Mrs. Chambers gave each other a smile.

  “Sure he took it,” Skye said. “Now he knows who his real friend is—you. We’ll give you a few cubes every time you ride, and you’ll have him dancing in circles.”

  “He doesn’t really dance, does he?” Katie’s tone was skeptical.

  Mrs. Chambers checked the cinch on the saddle. “Not yet,” she joked. “But he’s quite a horse. Maybe—”

  “Mom!” Skye interrupted. “Katie, just so you know, none of our horses really dance.”

  “Do any horses dance?” Katie’s curiosity was real.

  “Well,” Skye said, “I guess you could say Lipizzaners and Andalusians ‘dance.’ They do all kinds of fancy footwork when they perform. But that takes years of special training.”

  “Hey,” Katie said, “maybe we could look it up on the Internet. I’d like to know more about them.”

  “Right now you’ll have enough to do to learn more about this horse,” Mrs. Chambers said.

  Not to be ignored, Boomer turned back to Katie, this time licking her arms, nudging her with his exploring nose. Katie automatically took a step back, but then she paused. Stepping forward, she carefully reached toward the horse. He sniffed her, and as he started licking, Katie’s arms found their way around his neck, and she gave the friendly horse a warm embrace.

  “Boomer,” she declared, “whether you can dance or not, maybe we can be friends after all!”

  Chapter five

  Please pass the rolls.” Skye examined the table loaded with fried chicken, baked potatoes, corn, and applesauce—all her favorite foods.

  Mrs. Chambers handed the rolls to Skye and glanced at Katie’s mother. “Mrs. Thomas, we’re so glad you could visit today.”

  “Please call me Christine.” The woman forced a smile after she took a quick sip of coffee. She fingered shoulder-length frizzed hair that framed a thin face engraved with worry. “This is the first Sunday I’ve had off in weeks. I’m just glad I was able to get away.”

  Buttering her roll, Skye watched Katie, who appeared engrossed in her plate piled high with food. The expression on her face registered a blank.

  “You work at an envelope factory, isn’t that right?” Mrs. Chambers knew how to get the conversation going.

  “Yes,” Mrs. Thomas said. “In the office. I do the payroll. It can be a demanding job. It never bothered me until the guys in the front office decided to work the factory on Sundays. I hate missing church. And if I don’t get there, Katie usually doesn’t either.”

  Katie managed a look of disdain, even with her cheeks working on a mouthful of food. She never said a word.

  What’s with her? Skye pondered. She sure is different when her mom’s around.

  Mrs. Thomas quickly changed the subject. “Where’s your other girl? And your husband?”

  “Morgan is visiting a friend,” Mrs. Chambers said. “She’ll be back sometime before supper. Tom took our other students on a nature hike and hot-dog roast. He loves the outdoors. They’ll be back tonight, ready to face a busy week.”

  Skye sipped her lemonade. “Morgan and I will definitely need our beauty sleep tonight. We have orders to clean our bedrooms tomorrow. That’ll take most of the day. Of course, we can’t start tearing the rooms apart until we’ve finished giving riding lessons in the morning.”

  “And how’s Katie doing with her lessons?” Mrs. Thomas took a bite of a roll.

  “Just fine!” Katie snapped. “When’s Dad comin’ to see me?”

  Skye’s eyebrows peaked as she glanced in Mrs. Chambers’ direction.

  Mrs. Chambers, as usual, chose her words with care. “Katie’s doing a marvelous job. For only two weeks of lessons, you’d think she was born on a horse. She’s a natural!”

  “Boomer’s a great horse,” Katie snapped again. “He makes it easy to learn. Mom, you didn’t answer me. When’s Dad coming?”

  Mrs. Thomas sighed. “Katie, I just don’t know. He won’t return my calls. The last time I talked to him, he said he’d try to visit at the end of the month. So maybe next weekend—”

  “I wanna show him how I c
an ride,” Katie interrupted. “Why didn’t you come together?”

  Mrs. Thomas placed her fork down and folded her arms. “Katie, you know that’s impossible.” She looked at Mrs. Chambers. “This last year hasn’t been easy—for any of us. The last time the three of us were together, all we did was argue over money and whose fault Katie’s accident was. We blamed each other and kept going in circles. If it weren’t for our ‘Others Fund’ at church, Katie wouldn’t be here for the summer. It never would have fit into our budget.”

  “More chicken, anyone?” Mrs. Chambers smiled as she passed the plate. “Christine, have you sought any professional help?”

  “They won’t!” Katie piped in. “She won’t! They don’t think it’s worth it.” Her voice then became subdued. “I’ll take more chicken.”

  “The plate’s to your immediate left,” Mrs. Chambers said, handing Katie the chicken.

  Katie took two more pieces and started right in on them.

  “This is something Katie doesn’t understand.” Mrs. Thomas directed her words to Mrs. Chambers. “We’ve gone to our pastor—on several occasions. But it hasn’t helped. Keith is a mechanic, and our incomes are, well, let’s just say, we don’t have money for seventy-dollar-an-hour counselors. Keith figured it was just easier to leave.”

  “And you didn’t try to stop him either!” Katie complained.

  Mrs. Thomas let out another long sigh. “Sometimes you just get tired of fighting it.”

  “You guys don’t care about me, or you would try!” Katie shoved a forkful of food into her mouth.

  Wow! If I talked like that to Mom, I’d be grounded forever! Skye focused on eating her chicken leg.

  Determined to change the mood, Mrs. Chambers smiled all the way to her blue eyes. “Katie, your mother seems very interested in your riding progress. What do you say we get Boomer out this afternoon so you can give a demonstration?”

  “Okay.” Katie nodded.

  For the first time since sitting down, Mrs. Thomas seemed to relax. She shot a glance in her daughter’s direction. “I’d love to see you ride that horse, Katie. I’d like you to show me everything you’ve learned.”